By J1 Reporter Mallory Connealy

Marian’s annual Walk-A-Thon is a tradition that every Marian student is familiar with. While similar fundraisers take place through many different schools and organizations, nobody does it quite like Marian. Ms. Madeline Reddel, a new homeroom moderator this year, attended Millard West high school where she said,” We had fundraisers more for the activities we were a part of…I don’t think the concept of Walk-A-Thon is new to me…but Marian Walk-A-Thon is its own amazing event!” The entertaining afterparty, intense competition and passionate students are what differentiate Marian’s version of Walk-A-Thon from any other organizations’ fundraisers. 

The WAT afterparty theme was Foam! The students were able to dive into bubbles and have fun with their friends after walking a couple miles. “My job on WAT was to monitor the FOAM party. I may have jumped in the foam before the first girls got there,” Reddel said. It is truly an all-school event through the participation of teachers and staff. 

While some moderators have become experts in motivating students to bring in money, others are fairly new to the competition. One of those less experienced moderators and newly staffed personnel is Reddel. She worked alongside Mrs. Marsha Kalkowski in motivating Homeroom 304 students to bring in money for their individual homeroom goal. This is a freshman homeroom so Reddel and the students are in a similar situation in experiencing Marian WAT for the first time. She said, ”Mrs. Kalkowski and I made sure everyone brought in their $40 minimum. We encouraged them to bring it as early as possible! We also encouraged our homeroom to get creative in how to raise money, and advocate for themselves.”

Reddel said,” I expected an energetic day and that’s exactly what WAT was!” Marian’s WAT unified the school community as well as the individual classes through healthy competition in raising money. The classes competed to win prizes such as free days, lunch passes, open campus and open lunch period. ”I thought the competition was very healthy,” Reddel said. 

While this event is technically a fundraiser, it is truly an annual representation and celebration of Marian’s identity and core values. Reddel reflected on this by saying, “Each grade level wanted to do well, but there was also support for other grade levels by other grade levels, which is such a mature quality that Marian girls have!”